KOLO 8 Video Helps Nab Armed Robber

By Auburn Hutton&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Thu 5:20 PM, Aug 07, 2008&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Fri 5:46 AM, Aug 08, 2008

A man is in custody, accused of committing at least two armed robberies in our area in the past week. And police say KOLO 8 News Now and one of our viewers played a role in getting them some of the evidence leading to his arrest.

23-year-old Marc Trusty of Reno was arrested Tuesday afternoon, but only now do police have enough evidence to charge him with the robberies.

Two of the robberies took place early Monday morning in a Northwest Reno neighborhood. The third robbery happened later that night at the Grand Sierra Resort.

In all three cases, at least two armed men stole money from people sitting in parked cars...and in all three cases, the suspect and vehicle descriptions were eerily similar.

Fast forward to Tuesday, and one of KOLO 8 News Now's photographers caught video of a California Avenue arrest on camera.

It showed a man in the backseat of the patrol car, a man named Marc Trusty.

We aired the footage Tuesday night...and luckily, one of the victims from Monday's robbery happened to be watching the news. When police contacted her, she confirmed that Trusty, the man she saw on TV, was indeed the same man who robbed her Monday morning.

Detectives say our video provided a major boost in the case and took a dangerous man off our city streets.

"You have a suspect that commits three robberies in a 24 hour period. Every bit of evidence and common sense would tell you, they weren't going to stop there," said Sergeant Kim Bradshaw of the Reno Police Department.

Police say trusty is charged with committing the first two robberies in the Northwest, although they're still also hoping to positively link him to the Grand Sierra robbery.

But police say unfortunately, he wasn't alone. They still believe there is another man out there who helped Trusty commit the robberies. The other robber is described as a Hispanic or black male in his early 20's, wearing a black sweatshirt, black shorts and white tennis shoes with white socks.

Police say Marc Trusty is not being cooperative with police at this point, and he refuses to tell them who may have helped him commit these crimes. They do know he's a Reno native with Oregon plates on his vehicle, he's unemployed, and he does have some sort of criminal record.

If you know him or who he hangs out with, you're urged to call to call the police immediately. The # for Secret Witness is 322-4900. You can get in touch with Reno robbery detectives by calling 334-2115.

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